MELBOURNE REBELS vs NSW WARATAHS in Melbourne, Friday 7.35pm AEDT
Honourable losses are no longer good enough for the winless Rebels, according to Wallabies coach Eddie Jones.
The Melbourne club gave the Hurricanes an almighty scare in Super Round before falling to a 39-33 loss at AAMI Park.
“We’ve got to beat them. That’s not good enough for us,” Jones told the ABC.
“We need to beat the New Zealand sides. The Rebels, they hung in the game, they could have got blown right out. At one stage, they looked like they were going to get blown out. You need to start the game with that intensity against the New Zealand sides.
“You can’t let them get on top. That’s what we want to see going forward. We want to see our players dominating the New Zealand players.”
Rebels coach Kevin Foote has made three changes to his starting XV with Nick Jooste, Cabous Eloff and Josh Kemeny replacing Joe Pincus (quad), Sam Talakai (concussion) and Tuiana Taii Tualima (benched).
Meanwhile, Waratahs coach Darren Coleman has made just one change to his run-on side, with Wallabies prop Harry Johnson-Holmes coming in for Archer Holz at tighthead.
There is no room in the 23 for big names Tolu Latu and Nemani Nadolo while Test forward Ned Hanigan is on the bench after recovering from a knee injury.
“The Rebels had a really spirited second half last week against a strong Hurricanes team, so we know we are going to have to put in an 80 minute performance this week if we’re going to get a result,” Coleman said.
“They had a strong home crowd behind them last Friday which took them to another level, so we’re under no illusions that we’re going down into a hostile environment.”
REBELS (15-1): Nick Jooste, Lachie Anderson, Reece Hodge, Stacey Ili, Monty Ioane, Carter Gordon, Ryan Louwrens, Richard Hardwick, Brad Wilkin (c), Josh Kemeny, Trevor Hosea, Josh Canham, Cabous Eloff, Alex Mafi, Matt Gibbon
Reserves: Jordan Uelese, Cameron Orr, Pone Fa’amausili, Tuiana Taii Tualima, Vaiolini Ekuasi, James Tuttle, Lukas Ripley, David Feliuai
WARATAHS (15-1): Ben Donaldson, Mark Nawaqanitawase, Izaia Perese, Lalakai Foketi, Max Jorgensen, Tane Edmed, Jake Gordon (c), Langi Gleeson, Michael Hooper, Lachie Swinton, Hugh Sinclair, Jed Holloway, Harry Johnson-Holmes, Dave Porecki, Tom Lambert
Reserves: Mahe Vailanu, Te Tera Faulkner, Daniel Botha, Taleni Seu, Ned Hanigan, Charlie Gamble, Teddy Wilson, Ben Dowling
Referee: Angus Gardner
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